I remember the days of grade school when I would show up with a bright and shiny pair of new shoes. Sometimes my new shoes would be completely white or they would be sneakers with a white toe area. Either way my new shoes were always a sense of pride. I was ten years old. What can I say?
In former days I would wear a pair of shoes to the point of almost non-existence. Brenna made me get rid of a pair recently. I argued they were perfectly fine. I said I just wear them around the house or to the gym on non-aerobics days. She countered with, “They have a whole where the toe is supposed to be. Do you really think James Bond would wear these shoes?”
She always wins with the “What would James Bond do?” card.
In Eva Wilder Brodhead’s book “Bound in Shallows” there is the following sentence: “I ain’t so well-heeled right now.”
Based on the context of the story it is clear ‘not so well-heeled’ refers to poverty. Good quality shoes are generally not available to the poor and therefore have been seen as an indication of prosperity. If one is wearing a fresh and new pair of shoes the heel will not be worn down. Thus one who is ‘well heeled’ could be seen as prosperous.
I would always enjoy my new shoes. I believed I could run faster or jump higher. Now some twenty years later…oh who am I kidding?…thirty five years later I got a new pair of shoes yesterday and said to Brenna, “Look I have a lot more spring in my step.” She gave me that look a good girlfriend always does for her kid trapped in a man’s body boyfriend. You know the one. The one where they smile, tilt their head to the side ever so slightly, quickly blink a few times and say, “That’s nice honey.” But it is true. There really was more spring in my step thanks to my new shoes.
Back to the days of grade school and my new shoes, it was always a little game of keep the friends away from stepping on my new shoes to soil them up. Today people call that bullying. I call it getting ready for life out there in that big scary world.
Today my friends don’t step on my shoes. If they did it wouldn’t bother me so much as the shoes I got are for work. Check them out:
No slip grip soles. High top for ankle support. Steel toe. I added in some gel insoles. Yes! Still a sense of pride I guess but when you are on your feet on a hard surface floor eight hours every day…
Whatever type of shoes you wear, whether they are heavy duty like mine, or cool and comfy Vans, or super sexy high heals, enjoy your new shoes. I trust they will bring a smile to your face like my new shoes do for me.
What are your favorite type of shoes? Do you generally have many shoes like Coco or Imelda Marcos or do you keep it to the basics? Oh! Did you ever have Vans? What did they look like? Would love to hear about them.